I Became a Tyrant’s Maid - Chapter 40

The male lead kicked the office chair in a state of extreme anger.

I quietly tidied up the scattered documents beside him.

“Damn it, how dare they send me to Desart? I’ll kill that damned Empress right away.”

“It’s still difficult, Your Highness. Please wait for the right time.”

The male lead was ranting about killing the Empress or whatnot, and the second male lead was trying to dissuade him with a deadly serious face.

“Who said I’m going to kill her right now?”

The male lead looked at the second male lead with an incredulous expression, and the second male lead answered with a consistently serious face.

“Still, we must be cautious when dealing with the Empress.”

A comedy sketch, now?

The male lead seemed at a loss for words, holding his breath and raising his eyebrows.

Certainly, the male lead had become hysterical.

Although they had somehow overcome the biggest crisis, looking at the overall situation, the male lead’s position was very bad.

The plan to eliminate the Third Prince fell through when the First Prince’s side made a preemptive move before the male lead’s side could even begin their operation.

The Third Prince joined hands with his brother to survive.

In effect, the Third Prince had all but given up on the throne.

Instead, he lent his strength to the First Prince’s side, and thanks to that, their mother, Empress Meidas, was enjoying unprecedented power.

“Alright, just give me the list of diplomatic items.”

The male lead gestured to the second male lead as if it were routine. He then pulled out a sheet of paper from the stack of documents on the desk and handed it over.

I quickly took out a sheet of paper from my chest and offered it along with his.

“I’ve investigated the current quantities of diplomatic items we have, as well as the demand and popularity in the respective countries, and compiled them into a table.”

The second male lead frowned at my cheeky behavior, but I calmly ignored his reaction.

“May I ask you to check it?”

This was the reason why the male lead was angry at the Empress.

‘Diplomatic trade with the desert country, the Empire of Desart.’

Desart was a country adjacent to the Posnia Empire, one of the few existing ’empires’ in this world, and a desert nation.

For this reason, the Posnia Empire, lacking the technology to traverse the desert, always had to maintain an amicable relationship with them.

If a war were to break out, it would be geographically disadvantageous for Posnia.

Originally, it was supposed to be the First Prince’s side going, but shortly after news came that Meidas, the First Empress, had a private audience with the Emperor, the subject was suddenly changed to the male lead.

The male lead raised his head and looked alternately at me and the second male lead as if asking what the two of us were doing.

“Your Highness, as I’ve said before, keeping Lady Estanya this close doesn’t seem to be a good choice.”

The second male lead pointed at me openly as he spoke, and I gaped in disbelief.

Is he really picking a fight because I took over his work?

“She’s not Lady Estanya, she’s my maid.”

I frowned at the male lead’s following words.

Is that meant to be a shield, or is he trying to throw me under the bus?

“The disposition of my maid is not under your jurisdiction, so mind your own business.”

“But Your Highness’s security is my responsibility.”

“I can protect myself just fine.”

“Is that why you willingly let spies roam around the Crown Prince’s palace?”

Sparks flew between their eyes.

Why are they suddenly like this?

I took a step back with a coldly displeased look.

I found out later that the second male lead, that is, Ruel’s opinion, was quite contrary to the male lead’s.

At the time, the male lead hesitated to kill her because the head maid was his nanny and due to various situational factors, while Ruel’s opinion was to just cut her down regardless.

Seeing this, it seemed that whether it was the second male lead or the male lead, they were all birds of a feather.

“Watch your words. I wasn’t just stupidly watching, I was waiting for the right opportunity to deal with it.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Don’t just say ‘Yes, Your Highness,’”

The male lead let out a sigh, seemingly at a loss for words due to Ruel’s nonchalant attitude. Soon, his gaze turned to me.

“Anyway, you’ll be coming along with this delegation.”

I forced a smile.

I had hoped not to go, but it seemed I would be dragged along regardless of my wishes.

So I resigned myself. If they say jump, I’ll ask how high. What else could I do?

Ha. Ha. Ha.

“We’ll be crossing the desert, so be prepared.”

“I am always prepared, Your Highness. I will serve you wholeheartedly as always.”

I smiled brightly, trying to show a professional attitude.

Damn, I’ll have to raid the Crown Prince’s palace supply warehouse tonight.

There was a lot to prepare for crossing the desert.

* * *

“Your Highness, please stay still.”

“What is this?”

“You need to keep your mouth closed.”

“Mmph!”

Ignoring the male lead’s frowning reaction, I felt around his face.

‘Pat pat pat.’

I diligently applied my secret weapon to his arms and legs.

“Your Highness, please give me your arm.”

“……”

I had been to the desert before on an overseas trip.

The sun in the shadeless desert was extremely hot, so in cases like this where we’re traveling not by car but by carriage, we needed to be even more careful.

They say that in the old days, many people died from heatstroke.

“What are you doing, Lady Estanya?”

Ruel approached, seemingly angry at my inexplicable actions, and grabbed my hand. I kindly answered him.

“It’s an ointment that prevents skin from burning in the sunlight. Unfortunately, I only have enough for His Highness, so I can’t provide any for the knight.”

I smiled sweetly, and Ruel’s expression soured for a moment.

Am I a pervert if I enjoy seeing this?

Anyway, fortunately, thanks to my cosmetic pouch that appeared due to the diary incident last time, I was able to pack sunscreen and sunblock.

“Your Highness, even if it’s not stylish, how about wearing this?”

As Posnia is far from the desert, they seemed quite ignorant about it.

They all seemed somewhat clumsy, I should say.

I held out the special scarf I had managed to make after much effort to the male lead.

“Why do I need this?”

The male lead frowned, not understanding my actions, and looked around.

The luggage carts were filled with the empire’s specialties, and the male lead’s soldiers were wearing armor and cloaks.

It wasn’t good attire for crossing the desert, but it couldn’t be helped as monsters might appear unexpectedly.

“I’ve heard that sandstorms are frequent in the desert. So it’s best to wear this to shield from the sun and prevent sand particles blown by the wind from entering your respiratory system.”

The male lead quickly understood my reasonable and logical explanation and nodded.

I stood on my tiptoes and wrapped the scarf around the male lead’s head.

“How do you know about these things?”

Suddenly, the male lead’s face came close.

Flustered, I gently lowered my tiptoes and moved away from the male lead.

“I saw it in a book during my childhood.”

Feeling awkward, I avoided the male lead’s eyes and stepped back further.

“What book?”

The male lead asked while fiddling with the scarf I had tied.

I kept my mouth shut for a moment.

‘I can’t exactly say I saw it in the “Surviving in the Desert” series!’

Still, it wasn’t a lie.

I did see it in the elementary school library, so I indeed saw it in my childhood.

“As it was when I was very young, I don’t remember well…”

I avoided answering directly with a smile and opened the carriage door.

“Let’s get in, Your Highness.”

Perhaps because it wasn’t an important question, the male lead nonchalantly boarded the carriage.

And then I looked at the second male lead standing next to me with his arms crossed.

I felt like I was losing my mind.

Usually, servants either ride horses or walk.

The idea of riding in the carriage with the male lead was absurd, and since I didn’t know how to ride a horse, there was only one answer.

“Why do you have so much luggage?”

I had no choice but to ride behind that damned silver head.

Fortunately, thanks to the male lead being very considerate of my convenience, I didn’t have to walk.

However, the problem was that he was too considerate, resulting in me enjoying the luxury of riding on the horse of the Commander of the Crown Princess’s Palace Knights.

Why? Because not a single attendant of the Crown Prince came along, except for me.

Simply for the reason of ‘not being trustworthy’.

‘Damn it.’

Originally, in such a procession, cooks or attendants who maintain weapons should have accompanied us, but Calix’s knights were capable enough to handle such minor tasks themselves.

Moreover, they were all of common birth, so even if attendants were brought from the palace, there was a high probability they wouldn’t follow orders well.

I gritted my teeth and lifted the luggage at my feet with a heave.

“Since it’s His Highness’s luggage, not mine, you don’t need to worry too much, Sir Knight.”

The second male lead, displeased with my answer, frowned deeply before stepping forward and lifting my luggage onto the horse.

“As we’re working together as His Highness’s closest aides, you may call me by my name, Lady Estanya.”

The second male lead said with an unpleasant expression, and I quickly accepted his proposal.

Thank you very much.

“Lord Ruel, you may also comfortably call me Rose.”

I said with a bright smile.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you giving me a ride?”

“……”

“You know I can’t ride a horse, right?”